Automatic locking drum file



Aug. 17, 1948.

F. D. JONAS AUTOMATIC LOOKING DRUM FILE Filed March 1, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q INVENTOR.

Angie.

F. D. JONAS AUTOMATIC LOCKING DRUM FILE Aug. 17,1948.

s Sheets-Sheet 2 j Filed March 1, 1944 .I I I I I l I l I l I I l I ||||v|..| UI W I II I IH INVENTOR; Frank 0 Jonas- Aug. 17, 1948. F. D. JONAS AUTOMATIC LOCKING DRUMFILE Filed March 1, 1944 In VEN m2 Fran/ 0. a

5 SheetsSheet 5 Patented Aug. 17, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frank D. Jonas, East Williston, N. X, assignor to Oxford Filing Supply Co. Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y.,

a corporation ofNew Jersey Application March 1, 1944, Serial No. 524,552

'8 Claims. (01. 129-16) This invention is .concerned with improvements in filingdevices particularly for use in filing cards, comprising the drum or wheel type of device having .a series of trays to 'receive'the cards in combination with automatic locking :devices whereby the cards are locked in the trays except when the drum or wheel is in position for working with the cards of one tray, at which time they are releasedior removal.

The main objects of the invention are to provide asimple structure mechanically providing card receiving'trays or compartments within which a large number of cards in proportion to the size of the device may be stored; providing automaticaily' operating locking devices whichiock the cards in the trays in all positions thereof with the exception of the tray exposed for use; providing means for locking the cards of the exposed tray in place Iagainst unauthorized removal of the cards; and providingautomatic indexing means to aid in centering the exposed tray in working position.

Other andmore detailed objects oi th'einvention will be apparent from the following disclosure when taken connection with the drawings, in Y which several embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

This "invention resides .substantially in the -combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts as will be described in detail Figures 6, "7, '8 and 9 are similar views of tour" modified forms of locking devices.

In the card filing art it is not new to assemble filing cards on some form of rotatable drum or wheel type of carrier. In this type of device it is usual to mount the cards on the drum or wheel with their planes parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum or wheel, and to provide some form of device for locking the cards thereon, With arrangements of this type, the cards are so locked on the wheel by engagement of a mounting ring 2 incorporated therein with a slotted hole inthe bottom edge of the card. To remove or insert cards in such a device they must be either handled individually by forcing them off of or onto the ring, or the ring itself'must be in segmental form so that the segments with the attached cards can be removed from the wheel andthe cards separated therefromby sliding them off an end o'f'the arrangements the cards do not rest un-iiormly on the peripherial surface of the wheel and hence their top edges at the outer circumference do not present a uniform surface for fingering. It is, therefore, difiicult, if not impossible, to separate individual cards for access merely by fingertip action, such as may be accomplished with accurately sized cards when they are arranged on a flat. supporting surface as in the device herein disclosedwhich has none of these disadvantages.

A very important feature of this invention resides'in the arrangement whereby the planes of the cards extend at right angles to the axis of rotation of the support as distinguished from the structures described above where the cards lie in the planes of the radii of the support. In the file of this invention the cards stand up uniiormly resting as they do on a plane surface and do not, as in the other device, flop over in batches and turn and skew within the limits ailowed'by their mounting as the wheel is slowly turned to bring the cards into position for exposure the prior device, the cards being on a circular surface so to speak, present a very irregular fingering surface as distinguished from the device of this invent-ion where the cards resting on a plane surface provide a very uniform fingering surface. Indeed the differences are so great that in the prior art devices precision rotary cut cards are of no importance because they cannot be fingered to separate them but must be thumbed 'at the corners just like the pages of a bookin order to separate them. In the device of this invention, the cards resting on a plane surface present a very uniform fingering surface and, therefore, precision rotary cut cards can and desirably are used, In the prior art arrangements the cards must be snapped off of and onto the ring when removingand replacing them and as a result the card stock must be of very high quality in order that the ears of the slotted mounting holescan withstand" such abuse. With the device herein able.

. with each other.

disclosed, all the freedom and regularity of arrangement present in a regular card tray is avail- Th cards can be separated by light fingering on the top edge if they are, as they can be in this case, rotary out since the top surface conforms to the plane surface of the compartment floor in which the are mounted. There is no twisting or skewing of the cards because the supporting surface is fiat and does not encourage it as it does in the other type of wheel. Furthermore, one or a batch of cards may be removed unimpeded by the necessity of snapping onto and off of a mounting ring. They come out of and into the file compartment just as easily as they do in a plain file drawer or box.

In the prior art devices the usual arrangement .4 secured thereinto in any suitable manner. One of each pair of these stub shafts at the gear ends as illustrated at 23, extends beyond the associated gear 22 and is connected by a lever 24 intermediate its ends, as is clear from Figures 1 and 2. One end of the lever '24 is connected by a tension spring 25 to a pin 26 mounted on the outer face of the end plate I4. As is clear from Figure 2, one of these'levers is provided for each pair of locking vanes, that is one for each tray.

These elements are all mounted beside the j end plate I4, see Figure 1, so that the cam rollers 2'! mounted on the ends of the levers 24 may coinvolves a continuous, although slow movement of the wheel while in use, whereas in the device H herein disclosed the wheel is stationary while the e cards are being examined. Thus there is less eyestrain on the part of the operator since it requires less effort for the eye to travel along the guides when the are stationary than it does when the guides move past the eye.

' Inaccordance with this invention the device is provided. with card receiving trays or receptacles, a type of storage container more common in the card filing art, built into a drum or wheel so that when the cards are mounted therein they lie in planes at right angles to the axis of rotation of the drum or wheel and rest upon a plane surface. Thus, for example as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the file structure includes a pair of suitably shaped and proportioned end plates Ii! having peripheral flanges H to house the operating structure connected to the ends of an axially extending reinforcing housing or base 52 to provide a self-sustaining rigid structure. Extending between the end walls H1 is a shaft l3 which likewise interconnects the end walls to contribute to their rigidity. Rotatably mounted on the shaft [3 is a drum or wheel including a pair of end plates 14 in the form of a cross having arms of equal length, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. Extending between opposed pairs of arms which are circumferentially aligned, are the card trays comprising theside walls l and the bottom wall Hi, In the form of the device illustrated there are four of these trays, but it is of course apparent that the structure could be modified in the larger sizes to provide space for more than four trays. In the structure shown the right angle spaces lying between adjacent pairs of trays are closed off by transversely curved filler posts I! which serve to impart to the drum a substantially cylindrical cross-sectional form. All of these parts, which are preferably made of metal, are secured together in any suitable manner as by welding and the like, and the specific details of construction thereof can be varied and amplified as conditions suggest.

Each of the trays is provided with a central slot 18 extending throughout the length of the bottom wall into which project the locking vanes 20 which, as illustrated, are in the form of radial extensions of the tubular members l9. These tubular members are journaled at their ends in the respective trays by means of stub shafts inserted in the ends thereof. At the left hand end, Figure 1, each stub shaft is provided, as shown, with a spur gear 22 of the same size and meshing Structurally these spur gears may be integral with or mounted on short stub shafts, as illustrated in Figure 1, which fit snugly in the ends of the tubular members 13, and are operate with fixed cam 28 secured on the inner "face of the adjacent housing wall I!) in any suitable manner; as by means of the rivets as indicated at 50in Figure 4. The cam 28 throughout the major portion of its circumference is of cylindrical form but the portion which cooperates with the roller 21 of the tray exposed for use is of reduced radial length so that the vane 23 are moved to a vertical position as shown in Figure 2. The other rollers 21 are on the cylindrical portion of the cam, and thus the vanes have been modified to a divergent locking position as clearly shown for the other trays.

At the other endof the device,'that is the right handend, Figure 1 .is an indexing device comprising a cam 29 secured to the adjacent end wall l4. This cam for a four traydevice has four seats relatively arranged so that a cam roller 30 rests in one of the seats when the structure is in a position so that a tray is exposed for use. The cam roller 30 is 'mounted on a lever 3| which is pivotally mounted at 32 on the adjacent housing end wall IS. A spring 33 is anchored on the main'shaft 3 at one end and at the other end on a pinIforming extension of the pivotal support for the roller 30. In other words, the tension spring 33'holds the roller 30 firmly against the periphery of the indexing cam 29,

Referring to Figure 5 it will be seen that the card 0, indicated by a broken line, is provided card isinserted in the tray the van'es 2c project into this notch. When the drum is rotated fromthe position shown in Figure 2 in a clockwise direction, for example, as the roller 21 moves up onto the cylindrical portion of cam 28, lever 24 is rotated causing the gears 22 to turn so that the vanes move apart into a divergent relation as clearly shown in Figure 2. In this position the vanes 2!! lie parallel to the inclined space of the notch N and lock the cards C in the tray. They are thus locked in any one tray in all positions of the drum except the substantially vertical position of the uppermost tray of Figure 2, at which time they are unlocked so that they can be removed or new cardsgmounted in place. soon as the drum is again rotated, and before it moves sufficiently so that the cards can fall out. they are automatically locked in place. The operation of the indexing mechanism is obvious. It merely serves as a convenient method of properly positioning the trays as they are exposed for use. I a

With this arrangement as described it is obvious that the cards in the uppermost tray are unlocked and so the mechanism of Figures 3 and i is provided to make it possible to lock the'cards in this tray against unauthorized removal. To accomplish this the fixed cam 28 has its face ad- J'acent the wall l0 cut away to form the recessZB' in which'a segmental shaped plate 38 lies. This plate is freely rotatable on the shaft I3 and is of an. angular width suflicient tobridge the dwell portion of the cam. This segmental plate is shown in in-active position in the figures, but may be swungfrom the position shown to a position where it is aligned withthe dwell of the'cam. The radial dimensions of the segmental plate 38 are such that when it is aligned with the dwell of the cam it in effect forms a continuation of the cylindrical portion of the cam so that the arm 24 ofthe exposed tray is moved from the posi tion shown in Figure 2 to a position corresponding to that of the other arms, In this position, of course, the vanes of the exposed tray are in looking position. As illustrated in Figure 4, means is provided for locking the segmental plate 38 in either its operative ,or inoperative position. Attached to the outer face of the end wall I!) is a hasp or ring 35 positioned at one end of an arcuate slot 3 in that wall. Near the other end of the slot is a similar hasp 36. Attached to the Segmental disc is a hasp 31 which may move with it. When the disc is in the position shown hasp 3'! is aligned with hasp 35 and the parts may be locked in this position by means of the padlock 39. On the other hand, when the segmental disc 38 is swung counterclockwise, Figure 4, into alignment with the dwell of the cam the padlock interconnects hasp 35 with hasp 37, and thus all the cards are locked against removal.

Some modified forms of locking devices are illustrated in the remaining figures. Thus in Figure 6 the card C is provided with a substantially circular notch N extending as shown to the edge of the card. J ournaled in the tray is a shaft 4| having a transversely extending vane 32 which projects radially from each side thereof. The keythus formed is properly dimensioned with the siZe of the notch so that it can rotate in the similarly shaped channel thus formed when a plurality of cards are aligned. Secured to the shaft is an arm 43 on which the cam roller 21 is mounted for cooperation with a fixed cam similar to that previously described. The key is i1- lustrated in unlocked position so that the cards can be mounted and removed. However, when shaft 4| is rotated in either direction to a position so that the key or vanes 42 are horizontal, it will be apparent that the cards are locked in place. i In the modification of Figure 7 the bottom wall 6 locked against rem-oval. When the tray is exposed ior use, however, the plates will move outwardly on the axes of the shafts 41' so that the cards can be removed. This arrangement differs from those previously described in that plain un-v notched cards may b'e-used. 1

Figure 9 illustrates sufiicient of a further nmdl fication which is a variant of the. structure 01 Figure 8 to make clear the intended structure. In this case the cards Care provided with notches N' at the side edges near the top and the plates at are of less width so that their bent ends can cooperate with the notches to lock the cards in place.

In the arrangements of Figures 6 to 9 inclusive it is apparent that the locking devices or keys can be operated in a manner quite similar to that illustrated for the structure of Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, or the operating mechanisms can be varied in a number of difierent ways.

I do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited to the illustrative embodiments of my invention as disclosed herein but rather by the scope of the claims granted me.

What is claimed is:

1. A filing device comprising a fixed support, a filing card support rotatably mounted on said fixed support and providing a plurality of card. trays, a plurality of cards in said trays, and looking devices cooperating with the cards to lock them in the trays including a fixed cam and means cooperating therewith upon rotation of said card. tray support for moving the locking devices from and to locking position.

2. In the combination of claim 1, said locking devices including notches in said cards and cooperating keys movable to and from locking position.

3. A filing device comprising a fixed support, a rotatable filing card support mounted on said fixed support and providing a plurality of card trays, a plurality of cards in said trays, locking devices cooperating with the cards to lock them in the trays, and means for releasing the locking devices as the respective trays are moved to work position by rotation of said card tray support, said of the tray which has a longitudinal slot in the bottom thereof similar to that of Figure 1, has an upturned flange l6 extending at right angles to the bottom of the tray. A shaft 4! similar to that of Figure 6 is iournaled below the tray and has a single positioning arm 42 extending throughout the length of the tray and terminating in a hooked end. As before the lever i3 is connected to the shaft M and is provided with the cam roller 21. In this arrangement the cards have rectangular notches N near their bottom edges which extend to the edge as shown, so that when the vane 42 is in the position shown the cards can be removed, but when it is moved in counterclockwise direction to its locking position its hooked end will engage the notches and prevent removal of the cards.

In the arrangement of Figure 8 a pair of shafts All are provided to which are secured the plates 44 which extend vertically along the sides of the tray i5 to a point above them and just above the top edges of the cards C. The upper ends of the plates are bent over the cards and when these plates are in the position shown in the figure the cards are looking devices including notches in said cards and cooperating keys movable to and from locking position in said notches.

4. In the combination of claim 3, each of said trays having a longitudinal slot in its bottom wall and said keys projecting through said slots and into the notches of the cards.

5. In the combination of claim 1, means for preventing cooperation of said means'for moving including a fixed cam and cooperating lock opcrating devices for each tray mounted on the drum for rotation therewith.

'7. In the combination of claim 6, said cards being notched and said locking means comprising a rotatable member having a key movable into and out of locking relationship with the notches in the cards.

8. In a card filing device of the type described, the combination including a rotatable drum providing a plurality of card trays, a plurality of notched cards in said trays, means for locking the cards in said trays, means for automatically and successively releasing them as, each tray moves into exposed position, and said locking means comprising a pair of vanes movable into and out of locking relationship with respect to the notches in said cards.

, FRANK D. JONAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 373,279 Fezandie Nov. 15, 1887 454,265 Fezandie June 16, 1891 684,567 Elmer Oct, 15, 1901 Number Number 

